Vaseline treatment for hair lice can be a gooey mess

Q. What a nightmare! I used the Vaseline treatment to get rid of lice. It seems to have worked, but I have tried all of the suggestions to get the petroleum jelly out of my kids’ hair, and it is not coming out.

I cannot imagine using baby oil on this greasy goo. I am going to the store for more Dawn. I have used baking soda and cornstarch, and the kids are getting tired of having their hair washed. Help!

A. Coating hair with petroleum jelly overnight is a last-ditch home remedy to kill lice. We first learned about it in 1997 from a desperate mother who had tried all the usual products to eliminate lice first. Neil Prose, M.D., a pediatric dermatologist at Duke University, had recommended this approach to her pediatrician. That mother reported that applying baby oil liberally helped wash out the Vaseline. Others have found that getting petroleum jelly out of hair is quite a challenging chore.

Q. My wife suffers from depression and sleep deprivation. She refuses to see a doctor or take any drugs. Are there any supplements or remedies that could help with her depression and sleep problems?

A. Sleeping problems and depression may be linked and often seem to intensify each other in a vicious cycle. The supplement most often considered for treating sleep deprivation is melatonin. Several studies suggest benefit, although the research is not definitive (Current Treatment Options in Neurology, September 2009).

We are sending you our “Guide to Getting a Good Night’s Sleep,” with many suggestions for nondrug approaches to overcoming insomnia, as well as a discussion of melatonin and other treatments. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (61 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. I-70, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

One reader offered this experience: “My doctor, a sleep specialist, told me to put four daylight lights in my bedroom. They are also called ‘happy lights.’ Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time every morning. Set the alarm, then turn the clock around so you can’t see it. I used to look at the clock every hour.

“When the alarm goes off, get up, no matter how tired you are. Turn on the daylight lamps and spend half an hour in the room. You don’t have to look at them, just be in the room with them.

“After following that regimen for two weeks, I started waking up refreshed and ready to go. I had been desperate, like a zombie during the day and dreading bedtime. This worked for me!”

Q. I began taking celery-seed extract capsules six months ago for gout. Within a day, all my foot pain was gone. A blood test six weeks later showed normal levels of uric acid. I take two capsules each morning. Celery seed is a miracle, as far as I’m concerned.

A. We could find no clinical trials proving that celery-seed extract controls gout. Nonetheless, herbal expert James Duke, Ph.D., reports that this botanical medicine works well to prevent flare-ups. An animal model of arthritis and gout suggests that a combination of celery seed and New Zealand green-lipped mussel extract (Lyprinol) eases inflammation (Inflammopharmacology, December 2003).

XIn their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of The Vindicator or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Favorite Foods From The People’s Pharmacy: Mother Nature’s Medicine.”

2010 King Features Syndicate Inc.